The Nsukka school of art has become closely associated with uli art, the traditional wall and body painting of the Igbo. Introducing his subject of the influence of uli art on modern art, Adenaike first discusses the natural pigments used by the women in painting uli designs, the colors derived, and the uli symbols themselves.

Uche Okeke is the key link between the old and new traditions. His mother is a uli artist and his own training as an artist led him to explore this visual repertoire. At Nsukka, where he taught, the experiment took hold. In this part one of a two-part paper (see 3), Adenaike looks mainly at drawings and relates what is going on at Nsukka to other developments in modern Nigerian art.

In Adenaike's assessment, the "mature period" in the Oshogbo experiment, that is, after 1970, when the artists were on their own, has been one of stagnation and repetition. The burst of creativity of the formative period (1962-1970) has waned and a kind of shake-down process is at work, sifting the enduring talent from the not-so-good and the imitators. This does not mean, however, that there is not still lots of activity and many works produced at Oshogbo, but the results are not as satisfactory. Twins Seven-Seven has become distracted with other activities, particularly music. Rufus Ogundele, Muraina Oyelami, and Jimoh Buraimoh continue to experiment but with mixed results. The younger generations who attach themselves to the Oshogbo experiment are less successful and are cashing in on the tourist popularity of Oshogbo art.

On balance, it was a worthy experiment and did produce some competent artists. Ulli Beier is given credit for his vision and his encouragement to artists and for promoting Oshogbo art internationally. Though Ulli Beier did not conduct the workshops, he was central to the experiment. Adenaike concludes that the critical assessment of the works of art themselves -- as opposed to discussion of the idea of informal workshop training and the commercialization of the art -- has yet to occur.

In the short list of books on modern Nigerian art -- Evelyn Brown, Ulli Beier, Kojo Fosu, Marshall Mount -- only the last two attempt any kind of classification. Fosu's is based on a historical sequence without reference to form, while Mount's is on broad geo-political groupings and artists' training.

Dismissing these earlier attempts to classify modern Nigerian art, Adepegba develops a four-part classification of art works based on form and content: (1) discernible images of experiences and ideas; (2) naive visions, encouraged and fossilized; (3) abstractions beyond common understanding; and (4) revisitations and adaptations of traditional art forms. He elaborates on each of these categories, citing examples from The Nucleus (the 1981 catalog of the collection of the National Gallery of Modern Art). The classification refers to art works not to individual artists, who may actually produce works falling into more than one of the categories.

Defining contemporary Nigerian art is more difficult and more problematic than describing new art and artists, which is what Adepegba does here. Many familiar names--Abuja, Oye Ekiti, Ovia Idah, Akinola Lasekan, Kenneth Murray, Aina Onabolu, Oshogbo--weave in and out of his essay. Indeed the Oshogbo school comes in for some harsh assessment as a flashy, but essentially unrooted movement which was bound to be a passing phenomenon. So, too, with Michael Crowder's Ori Olokun Cultural Centre in Ile-Ife. These informal workshops have been superceded by formal university-based art training and by museums and exhibitions which consciously try to collect and promote contemporary art works.

Alfred F. Spinnler became enchanted with the spontaneity and vitality of Nigeria and Ghanaian 20th century art. So, he began acquiring paintings while living in Lagos in the 1980s and 1990 and got to know many of the artists personally. This catalog features a selection of works from his private collection - - works of thirty-two Nigerian artists and five Ghanaian artists. Some are well know and established, such as Bruce Onobrakpeya, Jimoh Buraimoh, Kola Oshinowo, Muraina Oyelami, and Ablade Glover; others are young emerging artists. For each painter (all are painters), a few paintings are illustrated and discussed. Biodata is included. There are also brief essays on the state of contemporary art in Nigeria and in Ghana and another essay by Spinnler on how he came to be a collector of art.

Aniakor questions the relationship between the contemporary Nigerian artist and tradition. He reviews definitions of both traditional and contemporary art by such authors as William Fagg, Robert Armstrong, Simon Ottenberg, Rene Bravmann, as well as artists Demas Nwoko and Uche Okeke. SomeNigerian artists benefitting from tradition are Yemi Bisiri, Lamidi Fakeye, Yusuf Grillo, Bruce Onobrakpeya, and Twins Seven-Seven. Erhabor Emokpae is an exception.

Skokian art derives from Okechukwu Odita’s idiosyncratic classification of contemporary art and refers essentially to realistic art. This dissertation by one of Odita’s students examines the work of several exemplars of realistic painting and sculpture by Nigerian artists, including, among the better known, Aina Onabolu, Abayomi Barber, Kolade Oshinowo, Ben Enwonwu, Ben Ekanem, Chudi Igboanugo, and Nsikak Essien.

The talent on display at the Exhibition of Arts and Crafts sponsored by the Lagos Branch of the Nigerian Council for the Advancement of Art and Culture, during the Independence celebrations, was surprisingly varied both in content and style. Intended to be representative rather than selective, it was of uneven quality. But it demonstrated that "contemporary" art in Nigeria is a wide and diverse field. Among the less well-known, but promising artists, are Festus Idehen and Osifo Osagie, both Benin sculptors, trained at Yaba College of Technology. Even more exciting are the Zaria group of artists -- Jimo Akolo, Yusuf Grillo, Bruce Onobrakpeya, Uche Okeke, Simon Okeke and Demas Nwoko.

Beier finds these artists, particularly Uche Okeke and Nwoko, truly modern in outlook, yet solidly grounded in their respective cultures.

Writing at the time of Nigerian independence, Beier laments the persistence of the belief that only traditional African art has merit. He seeks to demonstrate that contemporary Nigerian art is vital and dynamic, drawing on both traditional streams of creativity and on newer outside influences, especially Christian ones. Discussing wood sculpture and metalwork in the context of their religious and social use, he suggests optimistically that by 1960, good art encompassed many forms, including architecture, cement sculpture, commercial signs and posters, and painting.

Oshogbo has meant many things to many people. It has been described as an art movement, an art school, an experiment; the art itself has been variously characterized as folkloric, naive, innovative, dynamic, touristic and on and on. In this thirty-year retrospective group portrait of the Oshogbo phenomenon, Beier, himself a key player, allows the artists, catalyzers and collectors to speak for themselves. Everyone has his unique perspective, not always in accord, nor able to recall with equal facility, but which together paint a whole picture of what Oshogbo was and is. The artists who recollect are Muraina Oyelami, Twins Seven Seven, Bisi Fabunmi, Tijani Mayakiri, Rufus Ogundele, Ademola Onibonokuta, and Georgina Beier. Ulli Beier writes on Asiru, Denis Williams, Ru van Rossem and on the question of patronage.

Some Nigerian collectors also recall their personal encounters with Oshogbo art and artists.

This book celebrates Nigeria’s 50th anniversary of independence by showcasing the vitality of Nigerian art in the year 2010. It is the brainchild of Chukwuemeka Bosah, who pulled together the artists and resources to get this book published. Artists’ submissions were invited, selections were made (criteria, not quite clear), and 101 artists were chosen. Essentially, this is a picture book giving a cross-section of art produced today in Nigeria, though it is overwhelmingly painting. The artists are by and large not well known names, and no biographical information is included, but the volume is handsomely produced. Introductory essay are by E. Okechukwu Odita, Frank Ugiomoh and Unoma Numero.

The Chartered Bank collection of contemporary Nigerian art was begun with the inspiration and support of Mr. Odunayo Olagundoye, the Managing Director of the Lagos bank. The first art work was acquired in 1989: a painting by Kolade Oshinowo. By 2000 the collection had grown to 149 works, executed in a variety of media. Sixty of these are featured in this catalog, representing nine regional schools of art and other aesthetic and historical criteria. In his introduction, curator Olasehinde Odimayo spells out the history, scope, and acquisition policy of the collection, including identifying artists yet to be collected, which is an unusual twist. The primary goal of the corporate collection is to build a well-rounded, representative and thoroughly documented collection. The Bank’s new headquarters building in Lagos is designed to showcase the growing collection.

Uche Okeke’s essay, “History of modern Nigeria art” (reprinted from Nigeria magazine nos. 128-129, 1979, pages 100-118) sets the contextual background for understanding contemporary Nigerian art. Nine regional formal and informal schools of art are presented as a framework for looking at 20th century Nigerian art: Abayomi Barber, Maroko, Oshogbo, Auchi, Benin, Ife, Nsukka, Yaba, and Zaria. Plus, there are a few artists who do not fit into this classification, e.g., Ben Enwonwu, Ben Osawe, and Ghanaian Ablade Glover.

Jean Kennedy, back in the United States from several years sojourn in Nigeria, threw her energies into gaining exposure in America for Nigerian artists. This 1969 exhibition in Los Angeles, which she organized, featured many of the first generation Oshogbo artists along with a few others. It traveled for five years from 1969 to 1973 and was seen by audiences in New York, Missouri, Ohio, West Virginia, and California. In retrospect, her exhibition went a long way toward making Oshogbo synonymous with contemporary African art in the United States.

Exhibition reviewed by John Canaday, "Nigerians' art rewards a pilgrimage," New York times (New York) August 13, 1970 [and] "Not for the airports this time," New York times (New York) August 16, 1970; by Louis Chapin, "Nigerian art: renaissance of the primal," Christian Science monitor (Boston) August 27, 1970; by Peter Schjeldahl, "A coming of age in Africa," New York times (New York) June 13, 1971.

Contemporary Benin school: an exhibition of paintings, sculptures, drawings and prints, metal works, textiles and ceramics by students in the Faculty of Creative Arts, University of Benin; [held at the Exhibition Centre, Lagos, January 25-February 8, 1985] / introduction by S. Irein Wangboje. Lagos: National Council for Art and Culture, 1985. 43pp. illus. N7399.N5C76 1985 AFA. OCLC 27857161.

Benin City has a long history of highly developed arts. With the establishment of the Faculty of Creative Arts, the University of Benin continues a tradition of training in the plastic arts. Among the artists featured: Ademola Adekola, Oseha Ajokpaezi, Osa Egonwa, Kunle Filani, Banky Ojo, and Nics Ubogu.

Lagos has a growing number of art collectors joining a few passionate ‘old-timers,’ who have quietly been collecting contemporary Nigerian art for 40 years. The purpose of this catalog is to shine a light on the collectors, the artists, and the art to demonstrate what a vital art scene Lagos has become. It also reveals that many of these artists are not internationally known despite the collectability of their art locally. Jess Castellote is to be congratulated for undertaking this project.

Nigeria today has become a country noted for its art works, both ancient and modern. Contemporary artists of Nigeria enjoy some of the success and status of the ancient artists, producing a variety of works in artistic styles worthy of international acclaim. Thirty-one artists, most from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, are showcased in portfolios with color illustrations of their work. Brief biographical sketches are given. An introduction to calabash carving is presented also.

The Zaria Art Society was founded in 1958 by art students at the Nigerian College of Arts, Science and Technology, Zaria Branch. Founding members were: Uche Okeke, Demas Nwoko, Yusuf Grillo, Bruce Onobrakpeya, Simon Okeke, William Olasebikan, E. O. Odita, Ogbonnaya Nwagbara, Oseloka Odadebe, Felix Nwoko Ekeada, and Jimoh Akolo. Although it existed for only three years, the legacy of the Zaria Art Society is seen as extending much further than this brief period would suggest. Eze looks at this artistic legacy as manifest in the subsequent careers of the five prime movers -- U. Okeke, S. Okeke, Nwoko, Grillo, and Onobrakpeya. Appendices include interviews with some of the artists and documents from the Zaria Art Society.

Contemporary artists in Nigeria are aiming for a cultural synthesis of old and new in the form and content of their work, and this is a completely legitimate process, Filani argues. The infusion of abstraction, the artistic freedom to create new forms and inject new meaning into art or to rework older forms have created a wide range of individual styles in the last two decades. These artists are not reluctant to make bold commentaries in the context of their work on contemporary Nigerian society, but they do so with a visual repetoire that speaks to as wide an audience as possible.

Modern Nigerian printmaking as an art form can be dated to the school in Zaria in the late 1950s, though here the emphasis was on printmaking as a commercial medium. However, among the graduates of this program are two of the most prominent of Nigeria's printmakers: Bruce Onobrakpeya and S. Irein Wangboje. Both of these artists have developed innovative styles and techniques. Filani discusses both at length (Onobrakpeya, pp. 28-34; Wangboje, pp. 34-37). Wangboje also directed the Ori Olokun Cultural Centre in Ile-Ife where printmaking featured prominently; Ori Olokun has produced some successful artists, such as Segun Adeku. Wangboje, now at the University of Benin, is encouraging students to explore innovative printmaking techniques, though, on the whole, academic art programs are still slow in teaching printmaking as an art. David Dale, a protege of Onobrakpeya, is another active printmaker in Nigeria.

The outline of this book, based on the author’s dissertation, is simple. Eight Yoruba artists are compared and contrasted. Four of them are university trained; four are informally trained at workshops. The academic artists are Ben Oyadiran, Ayo Ajayi, Tola Wewe, and Wole Olagunju. The four workshop artists are Muraina Oyelami, Jimoh Buraimoh, Wale Olajide, and Segun Adeku. There is particular emphasis on the Yoruba motifs manifest in the work of these artists.

The Harmattan Workshops were founded in 1998 by artist Bruce Onobrakpeya in his home town Agbarha-Otor, Delta State, Nigeria. Onobrakpeya credits his own success to early formative experiences at art workshops held in Ibadan, Oshogbo and Ile-Ife in the 1960s and early 1970s. Now a mature artist, he seeks to replicate those opportunities for younger, aspiring artists.

This catalog records the experiences of the first two Harmattan Workshops, held in 1998 and 1999. Their origins and goals are described by Onobrakpeya. Three other essays discuss the painting, stone carving, and printmaking sessions. Biographical sketches of participating artists are included. Mike Omoighe contributes an essay on the place of art workshops in contemporary African art. Illustrations of many of the completed artworks are reproduced.

Building on the successes of the Harmattan 1 and 2 (see preceding entry), the third Harmattan workshop hosted fifty-five artists for two weeks in early 2000. Organized in five media sections – stone carving, metal sculpture, painting, printmaking, and pottery and ceramics – the invited (and uninvited) participants were mainly already trained and practicing artists or teachers. Each artist chose one major and one minor area of concentration. Lectures and discussions, reprinted here, added to the stimulating intellectual and creative environment of the workshop. In this catalog of Harmattan 3 are included reports on all media sections, illustrated with works of art created (which were later exhibited in Lagos). Biodata is included for each participant. There is also an essay on the architecture of Demas Nwoko.

The successful 4th Harmattan Workshop welcomed more than 50 participants (mostly men) into an expanded program that added new artistic media to the existing repertoire – bronze casting and jewelry and wood sculpture. Workshop facilities also expanded – a locally built printing press instead of an imported one – and new accommodations to house the artists at Bruce Onobrakpeya’s compound at Agbarha-Otor in the Niger Delta. The official Harmattan Workshop trainers are really facilitators to offer advice and encouragement for artists to experiment in different media.

This catalog reprints papers presented at the seminar sessions on topics such as arts administration, arts funding, documentation in the visual arts, pricing works of art, kiln construction, metal casting in Nigeria, disability and distortion in Nigerian sculpture, art workshops in Africa, and clay as a medium. Selection of artworks created during the workshop are illustrated in color. Each artist is profiled.

Bruce Onobrakpeya's Harmattan Workshop entered its fifth season in 2003 with an expanded repertoire of media. A textile section was added to painting, printmaking, stone and wood carving, metal sculpture, bronze casting, jewelry making, and ceramics. Sixty-two artists participated in 2003, still overwhelmingly male. The works produced during the workshop are illustrated. Because artists were sometimes working in new media, the products were experimental and of varying degrees of success, as would be expected. The hand-on studio work is complemented by presentations of papers and discussions and even poetry readings. Seven of these contributions are published in this catalog

Around sixty artists took part in the 6th Harmattan Workshop in 2004, a year in which the venerable septuagenarians Wole Soyinka and Yusuf Grillo were honored. With few exceptions, the artists are all academically trained and hail mainly from the Niger Delta region and Lagos. There is no representation from northern Nigeria. Experimentation in new media is encouraged during the workshop to allow the artists to broaden their range. The fruits of their labor are reproduced here. Evening programs for workshop attendees consist of lecturers and discussions on art history and art practice. Six papers are reprinted.

Ulli Beier's collection of Nigerian sign paintings, now in the Náprstek Museum in Prague, includes works by Middle Art and other Onitsha and Owerri painters. Herold takes a close look at the style and imagery of portraits in these paintings to propose a hypothetical model for the representation: Patrice Lumumba, the fallen hero of Congo's independence.

Ife art school: 1974-1984; [exhibition held at the Exhibition Centre, National Council for Arts and Culture, Lagos, April 27-May 19, 1984; Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan, June 1-15, 1984 and Concorde Hotel, Owerri, August 20-25, 1984] / introduction by Frank Aig-Imoukhuede. Lagos: National Council for Arts and Culture, 1984. 36pp. + [20]pp. of illus. (Evolution in Nigerian art series 2). N7399.N5I23 1984 AFA. OCLC 11562686.

One in a series of exhibitions featuring the major academic art schools in Nigeria, this one focuses on the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University). The exhibition had 190 entries by students who were in the Department of Fine Arts, University of Ife between 1974 and 1984. Artists included: Ademola Adekola, Donatus Akatakpo, Tunde Akin-Olutunji, Osi Audu, Chinedu Chukueggu, Peter Coker, Kunle Filani, R. O. R. Kalilu, Olu Ogunfuwa, Babatunde Ogunlaiye, Moyo Okediji, among others.

The International Artexpo Nigeria showcased 37 commercial art galleries in Nigeria, most of which are based in Lagos. (This expo is not international as the name would suggest). The artworks illustrated are mainly paintings with a few sculptures and mixed media works intersperced. Most are recent, 2008-2009, so the catalog provides a good cross-section of the kind of art being produced and sold in Nigeria.

The issues of contemporary Nigerian art discussed in this anthology of twenty-two essays and interviews written by artists themselves range across several themes. Professionalism, originality, art criticism, patronage, the market, collectors, art education, and the history of modern Nigerian art. On this last subject, there is quite a lot of generalized repetition and rehashing. The more interesting essays and interviews are more specific—on performance artists, on Ben Osaghae’s paintings, on goldsmiths of Ibadan, on Peju Alatise in her own words, on colorists of the Auchi school of painters. The illustrations are all in color, though they do not particularly refer to the essay into which they have been placed. Juliet Ezenwa Maja-Pearce is to be commended for undertaking this project.

Jegede contends that the erosion of the traditional base of Nigerian culture through contact with Europeans has set off a metamorphosis in patronage and artistic promotion. Western education interrupted the traditional apprenticeship system. Between the 1930s and 1960s, Christianity and a new social order contributed to the genesis of a new era in Nigerian arts. The Oshogbo and Oye Ekiti workshops were important watersheds, which led to a new patronage system, along with the emergence of galleries, new opportunities for exhibitions, and government-sponsored cultural festivals.

This is a comparative study of the academic and experimental art schools exempified by two well-known artists: Bruce Onobrakpeya, representing the academic art school tradition, and Twins Seven Seven from Oshogbo, representing the informal workshop tradition.

The Nike Centre for Art and Culture in Oshogbo, Nigeria, is a haven to many of the young artists brought into Nike Olaniyi’s entrepreneurial orbit. The art school, gallery, cultural troupe, and ultimate tourist destination that she has created builds on the name that Oshogbo already had as a town of artists. But in Nigeria of the 1990s, survival is a real concern, and artists who can successfully market themselves internationally are at a greater advantage. Jerde, in doing the research for this dissertation, apprenticed herself as an indigo dyer at the Nike Center, and her experiences are recounted in a highly personal manner.

The worlds of "traditional" and "contemporary" African art collapse into one another in this exhibition of popular urban arts of Africa, held at the Commonwealth Institute, London, January 13-April 5, 1981. An abridged version of the Berlin exhibition "Moderne Kunst aus Afrika," the London show contained mostly paintings, over half from the private collection of Gunter Péus of Hamburg. The Nigerian part of the exhibition was mainly Oshogbo art and sign painter Middle Art. None of the academic artists were represented. Moreover, even recent developments in Oshogbo were not reflected in the exhibition. One of the lessons of this show is that "the uneven development of art throughout the continent has been a response to a few cases of strong and inspired patronage."

Contains bio-bibliographies of 353 Nigerian artists active in the years between 1920 and 1990. The biographies include full exhibition histories, public collections, commissions, awards and honors, and training. The individual artists' bibliographies are cross-referenced to an extensive, annotated bibliography on modern Nigerian art. Also includes a chronology of Nigerian art, 1920-1990. Based on research and resources at the National Museum of African Art Library. Eight plates of color reproductions of art works are included.

The "artists of the shrines" are the untutored or self-taught practitioners who were swept into Susanne Wenger's orbit and became part of the New Sacred Art movement in Oshogbo. They re-created in totally new style the shrines of Oshun and other Yoruba deities in Oshogbo. Other artists became known for batiks, also inspired by Wenger's batik art. Among these Wenger followers are Adebisi Akanji, Buraimoh Gbadamosi, Saka, Sangodare Gbadegesin, and Isaac Ojo Fajana. Another Oshogbo artist influenced by Wenger was Asiru Olatunde, known for his aluminum repoussé panels.

Modern Nigerian artists have rich artistic heritages to draw upon, and it was in Nigeria that some of the earliest modern practitioners on the continent emerged. These bridge-building artists include: Ovia Idah, the Bini chief and sculptor, Yemi Bisiri, the Yoruba brass caster, Ben Enwonwu, an academically trained artist, Lamidi Fakeye, the Ekiti Yoruba sculptor, Yusuf Grillo and Solomon Irein Wangboje, both of whom trained in Zaria.

The Oshogbo renaissance sprang up not only in the groves of Oshun, but it pulsated on Station Road at Mbari Mbayo club. Here in the compound of Duro Ladipo, Ulli Beier and friends launched what has become both an admired and reviled art phenomenon known simply as "Oshogbo." The informal workshops, the theatrical performances, and the whole energy of Mbari helped put Oshogbo on the map.

Lasekan, one of the pioneering modern Nigerian artists, laments the lack of appreciation of art in Nigeria and the failure to grasp the higher values that art contributes to civilization. The problem as he sees it is lack of patronage, and he points to the earlier royal patronage which resulted in many of Nigeria's splendid antiquities.

Expatriates in Nigeria provide most of the patronage for contemporary art and this leads to bending to their artistic tastes. The most successful are those who turn out copies of "traditional" masks and figures. Western-trained artists who make realistic works are much less of interest to foreign patrons who see this work as derivative and bland; although Nigerians seem to prefer realistic art, especially portraits, most are prevented from becoming patrons for economic reasons. A third group of artists who blend abstraction with traditional styles -- the majority of modern artists fall into this group -- are more popular with foreigners and less appreciated by Nigerians.

The commercial success of mass produced tourist art and the "charlatanism" of artists who cover their mediocrity with a pseudo-modernism both do harm to serious artists.

This paper published posthumously appears to have been written in the 1960s.

The Greiffenbergs (Heinz and Gerlinde) were led to Nigerian art by Ulli Beier at Iwalewa Haus, where they became serious art collectors in 1987. Their collection, dating mainly from the late 1980s and early 1990s, is showcased in this catalog. In addition to works by Nigerian artists, the Greiffenbergs acquired works by other Iwalewa Haus artists, such as Azaria Mbatha, Ibrahim el Salahi, Hassan Ali Ahmed, and Tshibumba Kanda Matulu. But mainly, it is the Nigerians, from both Oshogbo and Nsukka, who predominate. Ulli and Georgina Beier wrote most of the text, and the voices of some artists are heard. Excellent color reproductions.

By the time Ulli Beier left Nigeria at the end of 1966, he had already identified (and written about) those artists he felt were some of the best new talents and creative energies in Africa. Oshogbo, Mbari Mbayo, and Susanne Wenger were among them, certainly, but there were others, fingered early on by Beier. This catalog and the exhibition for which it was written clearly bear Beier's imprint.

Of the Oshogbo artists singled out for greater attention are Twins Seven Seven, Muraina Oyelami and Susanne Wenger. Duro Ladipo, the outstanding Yoruba dramatist who was central to Mbari Mbayo, is also featured. Georgina Beier in an interview talks about the Oshogbo experience from her unique perspective. Wolfgang Bender contributes an essay on art during the colonial period in Nigeria, which draws attention to some of the new Christian sculpture and other art influenced by the European presence (e.g., images on Gelede masks).

Nigerian and foreign patronage of the arts, 1962-1987: the role of Nigerian and foreign institutions in the promotion of Nigerian arts: symposium organized by the Goethe-Institut on the occasion of its silver jubilee celebration, Lagos, June 3, 1987 / [co-ordinator, Alfons Hug]. Lagos: Goethe Institute, [1987]. 35pp. illus.N8720.N68 1987 AFA. OCLC 21588846.

The 1987 symposium on patronage of modern Nigerian art provided four artists a platform to air their views on the subject. In their individual presentations, Yusuf Grillo, Dele Jegede, Uche Okeke, and Bruce Onobrakpeya agreed that without local patronage and appreciation, the whole foundation of modern art in Nigeria is shaky. Creating works of art solely for foreign patrons/collectors runs the risk of a commercial enterprise devoid of vision and commitment. Other topics touched upon by the artists and other participants were government support for artists, the need for "visual literacy" in Nigeria, the absence of real art criticism, the contribution of foreign cultural institutions, such as the Goethe Institute or the Italian Cultural Institute and the handful of private galleries, in broadening exposure to modern Nigerian art. Other participants were Frank Aig-Imoukhuede, director of the National Council for Arts & Culture; Newton Jibunoh, art patron and founder of Didi Museum, Lagos; Gabriele Tombini, director of the Italian Cultural Institute; and Alfons Hug, director of the Goethe Institute, Lagos.

The Smithsonian World took its cameras to Nigeria and London to capture a bit of the world of modern Nigerian art and some of the creative practitioners who are making their mark. The narrator plays the theme of interweaving old and new, how these artists, each in his own way, is synthesizing and adapting cultural forms and values into new and transformed idioms. The featured artists are El Anatsui, Sokari Douglas Camp, Nike Davies, Ben Enwonwu, Lamidi Fakeye, Taiwo Jegede, Uche Okeke, Bruce Onobrakpeya, and Obiora Udechukwu.

Nigerian women in visual art promises more than it delivers by offering a series of overlapping, repetitious essays. Still, submerged in the verbage are recurring references to Nigeria’s significant and emerging women artists. There is a generous selection of illustrations of artworks by painters, sculptors, textile and graphic designers, potters and ceramicists.

Although centered on the life and career of Uche Okeke, this book offers a perspective on modern Nigerian art in the middle decades of the 20th-century, when Uche Okeke was most active. Witness and testimony comes from colleagues who worked with Okeke at the Nigerian College of Arts, Science, and Technology, Zaria; at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka; at Mbari Art Centre, Enugu; or at Asele Institute, Nimo. Okeke's arc traces the trajectory of Nigerian modernism.

Nucleus: a catalogue of works in the national collection on the inception of the National Gallery of Modern Art. Lagos: Federal Department of Culture, 1981. 115pp. chiefly illus. (pt. color). N3885.L3N96 AFA. OCLC 10825239.

The National Gallery of Modern Art in Lagos was a long time in the planning before it became a reality, and the works of art that form the nucleus of the collection were acquired some years before the official opening. This catalog showcases the collection.

The economic hardships of the late 1970s and the 1980s forced an inward-looking consciousness that ironically engendered a remarkable resourcefulness and creativity in the arts. By contrast, the accomplishments of the early years of Nigerian independence were more tentative and sporadic, despite the sudden effervescence of the Oshogbo group. Even today, a "Nigerian style" is yet to evolve, although several earnest artists along the way have contributed their unique vision toward a national consciousness: Felix Idubor, Ben Enwonwu, Isiaka Osunde, Uche Okeke, Demas Nwoko, Ben Osawe, and Bruce Onobrakpeya. Modern architecture has fared less well and is still to find a coherent indigenous expression, despite some isolated innovators who have tried to adapt and to incorporate art into architecure.

To study the image of woman in the recent works of Nigerian artists, it is advisable to move away from the sociological and certainly to avoid loaded Western concepts, such as "feminist" or "male-chauvinist." Art history needs to be situated squarely in the realm of historical realities of the artists concerned; it is not enough to look for thematic categories of depictions of women without exploring what lies behind these artistic choices.

Early renditions by artists such as Aina Onabolu, J. D. Akeredolu, or Akinola Lasekan belong to a genre tradition, woman as mere object of artistic interest. Ben Enwonwu broke away from genre and explored the theme of woman as mythic person. This theme was later picked up by many others, Uche Okeke among them. Woman as archetype of motherhood or as symbol of fertility and continuity emerged in the 1960s and 1970s among a number of artists. That and other stock images, e.g., woman as milk maid, as dancer, became common, too common. Their shallowness reflects a certain aridity of imagination and lack of depth.

The image of Western women introduced during the colonial period affected the image of the African woman. Depictions of women became ornamental, elitist, fashion-conscious. The village woman, when depicted, remained idyllic and generic. Neither of which made reference to realities of the changing roles of women, for example, the impact of Christianity.

The Negritude movement, among whose followers was Ben Enwonwu, depicted woman (ironically) by borrowing European fin-de-siècle imagery. This stylized, romanticized image has been perpetuated by some Nigerian artists. Woman as metaphor may be used to express the social condition, for example, suffering woman as metaphor for futility of war. Obiora Udechukwu has invoked this metaphorical woman. Other metaphorical women are the lone woman, the aged woman, the beggar.

What of Nigerian women artists? Though few in number (or perhaps because of this), women artists are decidedly not "feminist" in their depictions of women. They are indistinguishable from their male counterparts. Artists such as Etso Ugboadaga-Ngu, Ndidi Dike and Ego Uche-Okeke fall into this copycat mold. One who breaks the mold is Sokari Douglas Camp, whose depictions of women reflect individuality and Kalabari identity.

Oguntona describes the evolution of the Oshogbo workshops, which emerged outside a formal educational structure. The success of the Oshogbo artistic experiment in drawing on cultural heritage, while developing new skills and sensibilities, remains its most significant legacy. This integrative approach, already tried in other contexts, e. g., the National Youth Service Corps, has fostered an "aesthetic socialization" in Nigeria.

Ori Olokun Experimental Art Workshop, founded in 1969 under the wing of the Institute of African Studies at the University of Ife, was the spiritual successor to the Mbari Mbayo workshops in Oshogbo. Ori Olokun, unlike Mbari Mbayo, existed within a somewhat more institutional setting and employed instructors who were professional artists. It was, however, informal and improvisional in approach and attracted as its "students" a lively coterie of apprentices along with a few transplants from Oshogbo.

Directed initially by printmaker Solomon Irein Wangboje, Ori Olokun artists concentrated on printmaking. The Ori Olokun experiment ran out of steam after a few years, following Wangboje's departure in 1971. Ulli Beier, who returned to Nigeria soon afterward, is said to have been unenthusiastic about Ori Olokun. Whatever the cause, Ori Olokun disbanded, but it did sow some seeds that later bore fruit. Among the artists who have gone on to establish names for themselves are Ademola Williams, Rufus Orishayomi, James Adedayo, Raifu Oladepo, and Peter Badejo (though in dance).

Onaism, referring to an artistic movement initiated by a group of Yoruba artists based in Ile-Ife, derives from the Yoruba concept ona, which means decoration, embellishment, design, or motif. Ona relates to sculpture, patterning of textiles and many other art forms; it can also refer to artistic vision and aesthetics. Okediji illuminates this concept in the works of Yoruba artists reproduced in The Nucleus, the catalog of the National Gallery of Modern Art in Lagos. Some artists reveal onaism in their works more clearly than others. Gani Odutokun, for example, does so in the interplay of color; Abayomi Barber, a realistic portrait painter, shows a more subtle use of decorative elements but still falls within the category of onaism, as do the other realists -- Josy Ajiboye, Aina Onabolu and Akinola Lasekan.

Tayo Adenaike is an interesting case; though a Yoruba, he is clearly identified with the Igbo school of ulism, yet in his work too, Okediji sees uli itself as an element of ona. Other Yoruba artists represented in The Nucleus fall into mainstream onaism: Ayo Ajaye, Sina Yusuf and Jimoh Buraimoh. Okediji compares the stylistic range of onaism with that of ulism, finding the latter restricted to non-realistic styles while onaism embraces both realistic and non-realistic.

Okeke casts the emergence of modern Nigerian art as one of struggle: a struggle for artists to redefine themselves in face of Western-Christian cultural imperialism, a struggle to relearn what was rich and enriching about their own cultures, and a struggle to create a modern idiom. The polarities of Aina Onabolu, the elitist, and Kenneth Murray, the experimenter, were both in their separate ways revolutionary. Their legacy was not great art, but new ways of thinking about art.

The scene was thus set for the entrance of the first self-consciously committed generation of artists, the Zaria group, who thrashed out their own solutions and individually sought a synthesis of old and new. By the 1960s, things began to happen quickly -- the Oshogbo workshops, founding of the Society of Nigerian Artists, and the opening of new art schools.

The Zaria Art Society attempted to articulate a creative philosophy for Nigerian visual artists, which embodied an appreciation and understanding of one's own cultural heritage and which could go beyond Western-colonial boundaries in seeking artistic solutions. Okeke, the president of the Zaria Art Society, quotes at length from two of his presidential addresses of 1959 and 1960.

A collection of essays, interviews, and papers by Uche Okeke, dating from 1959 to 1982, on the growth and development of Nigerian contemporary art. Okeke seeks to give a new sense of meaning for Nigerian art and a sense of new direction for present-day artists.

The rise of modern art in Nigeria reached a high point at the time of independence in 1960. Built on foundations set by Aina Onabolu and Kenneth Murray—who had opposing views on art and colonial education—the dynamic became more complicated when the young artists from the art school in Zaria arrived on the scene in Lagos and Ibadan. A generational shift was about to take place. Into the mix are the European catalysts—Ulli Beier and Michael Crowder, among others.

Abstraction in art was one hotly debated issue. External influences on artists vs. ‘natural synthesis’ was another. Arts administration was yet another contentious issue—what was the role of the government in supporting the arts? The European expatriates? The artists themselves? Old guard or avant-garde?

Chike Okeke-Agulu delves deeply into this local history of art in the immediate postcolonial period—the late 1950s and 1960s. Central figures in his story are Uche Okeke and Demas Nwoko in one corner and Ben Enwonwu in another. Numerous others played supporting roles—notably Bruce Onobrakpeya, Erhabor Emokpae, Yusuf Grillo, Jimo Akolo, and Colette Omogbai.

Based on many years of research, including a doctoral dissertation on the subject, Okeke-Agulu makes a major contribution to Nigerian art history. Well illustrated with a significant number of artworks never before seen in color reproductions.

This in-depth look at the history and evolution of twentieth-century Nigerian art addresses the dilemma confronting modern artists: how to accommodate the pressures of Western culture without losing one's own cultural identity. By describing his own art education and experience, Okoro shows the need for Nigeria to develop its own cultural identity.

There is a danger in modern Nigerian art becoming too elitist, thematically, and economically out of reach. The art personality can also become out of touch, hence ineffective. A democratization of the arts is called for.

The man credited with introducing formal Western-style art education into the curriculum in Lagos was not a European, but the self-taught painter Aina Onabolu. Though committed and perservering in the face of official indifference, his real success was not in the classroom but in bringing Kenneth Murray to Nigeria in 1927. Murray's "culturistic" ideology differed from Onabolu's more conventional approach, and it is Murray's students who form the first generation of established artists: Ben Enwonwu, Christopher Ibeto, A. P. Umana, Uthman Ibrahim, D. L. K. Nnachi and J. Ugoji. They in turn spanned out, influencing subsequent generations of art students through their teaching and writings. In 1952 the first formal art school was established at Yaba Technical Institute (now Yaba College of Technology); college art departments soon followed, and they in turn merged into the universities of the 1960s.

At the Nigerian College of Arts, Science and Technology in Zaira, where Etso Clara Ugbodaga-Ngu pioneered as an art teacher, the congenial atmosphere spawned the free thinking, politically minded Zaria Art Society composed of articulate, talented artists, such as Yusuf Grillo, Uche Okeke, Bruce Onobrakpeya, and Demas Nwoko, who were ignited by both the euphoria of Nigerian Independence and by their own artistic rebellion and quest for relevance. Enter Ulli Beier, who embraced and publicly supported the work of this group of rebel artists, and the foundation is laid.

Bruce Onobrakpeya is one of the few modern artists in Africa who has systematically published collections of his works and writings. Sahelian masquerades is his latest offering. Earlier compilations include Symbols of ancestral groves (1985), Sabbatical experiments, 1978-1983 (1983) and a series of limited edition Print notes and comments (nine of which have appeared to date).

The arid Sahel of Northern Nigeria, a region Onobrakpeya first encountered during his student days in Zaria, inspired the present series of artistic experiments. The illustrated works include plastographs and metal foil reliefs. Onobrakpeya gives a brief explanation of each and offers his poetry as complementary text.

The 1997 exhibition "The Poetics of Line: Seven Artists from the Nsukka Group," at the National Museum of African Art, featured Nigerian artists Uche Okeke, Obiora Udechukwu, Tayo Adenaike, Chike Aniakor, Ada Udechukwu, Olu Oguibe, and Ghanaian-Nigerian artist El Anatsui -- artists associated with the uli art tradition and with the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. The unifying artistic dimension is the influence of Igbo uli motifs and design on the work of these artists. Uli painting is a women's art form found in body painting and on shrine murals.

In the accompanying book, Ottenberg discusses each of the artists within the context of life histories and the socio-political milieu of Nigeria. There are separate essays on each artist (three on Uche Okeke and two on Obiora Udechukwu) and two general essays on the evolution of modern art in colonial and post-independence Nigeria, art schools and movements, and patronage.

Also associated with this exhibition and book are the published proceedings of a symposium held in October 1997--The Nsukka artists and Nigerian contemporary art / edited by Simon Ottenberg (Washington, DC: Smithsonian National Museum of African Art; Seattle: In association with University of Washington Press,2002.

At the book launch of Nigerian artistry in Lagos in February 2010, Pat Oyelola exhorted her fellow Nigerians to get busy writing the history of Nigerian arts. Her book, she maintained, barely scratches the surface and there are dozens of books yet to be written. And they should be written by Nigerians!

Despite her pointed hyperbole, Nigerian artistry does more than scratch the surface. In one sense it is a summation of a lifetime devoted to studying and writing about Nigerian arts, especially Yoruba arts. She vastly expands on her earlier now out-of-print 83-page book Nigerian crafts (London: Macmillan, 1981). In Nigerian artistry Oyelola covers the artisan crafts: body arts, textiles, leatherwork, beadwork, pottery, calabash decoration, mat-making, basketry, rattan work, wood-carving, and metalwork.

Oyelola offers historical perspective on these various art forms, noting changes and evolution of practice, design, function, and economics. Pottery, for example, is no longer a flourishing craft. Mat making and raffia work is in decline, but has adapted modestly to different uses and markets. In contrast textiles and fashion remain vibrant and vital right into the 21st century.

On the occasion of FESTAC `77, Nigeria Magazine takes a panoramic look at Nigerian arts. Oyelola summarizes some of the achievements of practicing artists, who represent different backgrounds, training, and styles in sculpture and painting. She gives brief biographical sketches of artists, their media, styles, techniques and training.

The art of Oshogbo is a major part of this study of the heritage of this Yoruba city anchored by the deity Osun. The Osun grove is now a World Heritage site, and “heritage” has assumed a political and commercial place in the collective memory. Of central interest are chapters 2-4, which discuss Susanne Wenger, Ulli Beier, and the Oshogbo artists (three generations of them).

Pruitt attempts a systematic study of Nigerian kuntu art, defined here as "the tradition-oriented art style in contemporary Nigerian art." She identifies practicing artists who fit her definition of working within the kuntu style and anlayzes their work in terms of its distinguishing forms and aesthetics. Pruitt interviewed twenty-four artists, and the transcripts of those interviews are reprinted in an appendix, which makes for very interesting reading.

Volume l: A collection of papers delivered by scholars and artists: "Graphic Communication in Contemporary Nigeria," by Chuka Amaefunah; "The Place of Art in Education," by U. Uko Akpaide; "Factors which Influenced Igbo Traditional Woven Designs for Apparel Fabrics," by Chukwuanugo Okeke; "Contemporary Nigerian Art - The Future Participations of Ceramic Art in Nigeria," by Benjo N. Igwilo; "Creative Cooperation in the Arts," by Kalu Uka; "Experiments in the Revival of a Traditional Art Form in Southeastern Nigeria," by Keith W. Nicklin; "Change and Continuity in Anang Art: A Case Study of the Carving Village, Ikot Abia Osom, Cross River State," by Jill Nicklin; and "The Contemporary Nigerian Artist: His Patrons? His Audience and His Critics: A Preliminary Survey," by Michael Crowder.

Volume 2: "The Search for Identity in Contemporary Nigerian Art: Problems and Prospects," by Babatunde Lawal; "The Contemporary African Artist: The Aesthetics of Role and Audiences," by John Povey; "Search for the Theoretical Basis of Contemporary Nigerian Art," by Uche Okeke; "The Aesthetic Pseudo-Concept in Contemporary Nigerian Art," by Abayomi Barber; "Aesthetics and the Arts: From Traditional to Modern," by Meki Nzewi; "The Contemporary Nigerian Artist and Tradition," by Chike C. Aniakor; "Training of Young Artists: The Influence Which Future Generations of Artists Will Have on the Environment in the Different Continents (Africa)," by Uzo Egonu; "Humane Expressionism of Contemporary Nigerian Art," by Alois Wokoun; "The Aesthetics of Art in Technology," by Demas Nwoko; "Nigerian Art: Tradition, Change and the Future," by William Udosen; and "The State of Art Criticism in Nigeria: Preliminary Notes," by Obiora Udechukwu.

Volume 3: "Lines, Patterns and Spaces: A Consideration of Some Characteristics of Style in Contemporary Nigerian Art," by Nick Wilkinson; "The Influence of African Art on Western Art," by Vicki Mundy-Castle; "Cultural Awareness in Contemporary Africa: Continuity and Change in Nigerian Hairstyles," by Laz. E. N. Ekwueme; and "European Modern Art and the Discovery of African Art," by Jean-Louis Paudrat.

[N.B. Although this set of conference papers was not published, the unpublished papers have been gathered into three volumes for the purposes of cataloging at the National Museum of African Art Library].

These are the proceedings of a two-day symposium at the National Museum of African Art held in October 1997 in conjunction with the exhibition “The Poetics of Line: Seven Artists of the Nsukka Group.” Simon Ottenberg, curator of the exhibition, organized the symposium and invited as speakers all of the seven artists plus art historians, critics, and other artists. The art of the Nsukka school – that is, the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Department of Fine and Applied Arts – is the central focus, but some presentations draw in other Nigerian contemporary art. The seven Nsukka artists are Uche Okeke, Obiora Udechukwu, El Anatsui, Tayo Adenaike, Chike Aniakor, Ada Udechukwu, and Olu Oguibe. There are also three presentations on traditional uli painting and nsibidi symbols, which provide the starting point for the “poetics of line.”
Reviewed by Philip Peek in African studies review (New Brunswick, NJ) 47 (2) September 2004, pages 193-196; by Gitti Salami in African arts (Los Angeles) 38 (3) autumn 2005, pages 10, 84.

Art criticism in Nigeria lags behind literary criticism. The underdeveloped state of art criticism is all the more glaring in face of the rapid progress of modern art in Nigeria, which has far outpaced any serious critical assessment. Udechukwu identifies three categories of critics: artist-critics, journalist-critics, and professional-critics. The first group tend to pursue and perpetuate their own artistic visions and philosophies and evaluate all other art in that light. The journalist-critics are, by and large, an uninformed lot. Of the professional type, there are none with the sole exception of Ulli Beier.

Igbo wall paintings, using abstracted designs known as uli, have been a source of visual inspiration for contemporary painters in eastern Nigeria. This exhibition emphasized the artistic continuities between the older, women's art form and the newer, largely male-dominated art. While the wall painting tradition is declining, the modern uli artists are only beginning to explore the visual possibilities. Featured artists include Tayo Adenaike, Uche Okeke, and Obiora Udechukwu.

The lack of understanding and the sense of superiority of Christian and Islamic missionaries, and colonial administrators, served to disturb traditional cultural values. The influence of tourist-collectors corrupted local art forms. Technology imposed demands that modified old cultures. Secondary art education taught by expatriates did not explore local materials and talent, assuming that painting did not exist previously as an art form. The tendency to copy Europeans was motovated by the belief that anything imported must be better. Contemporary artists in transition sought to identify and find values in their heritage as an aesthetic expression.

The two pioneer painters, Aina Onabolu and Akinola Lasekan, dealt mainly with portraiture, landscape and other naturalistic themes. Lasekan, the more political of the two, was a newspaper cartoonist in the 1940s, critical of the colonial regime. By the 1950s, Nigerian artists began adopting images from traditional sculptures and local culture generally. Ben Enwonwu and Yusuf Grillo are good examples of this trend. Demas Nwoko took a grimmer tone in his painting of social realism, e.g., "Beggars." The Beiers' Oshogbo experiment in the 1960s with its thematic repertoire of Yoruba myths and folklore, seems a reversal of the general direction of contemporary art which until then led in the direction of social criticism and commentary. Oshogbo is portrayed as a "neocolonial implant."

Zaria art school, 1955-1990: catalogue of an exhibition by students and lecturers of the Department of Fine Art and Industrial Design, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria; [exhibition held at the National Gallery of Arts and Design, Iganmu-Lagos, Nigeria, May 31-June 1990]. Lagos: National Council for Arts and Culture, 1990. 72pp. illus. (Evolution in Nigerian art series 5). N7399.N5Z19 1990 AFA. OCLC 25014419.

The Zaria art school can claim to be the first degree-granting institution in Nigeria, having graduated its first fine arts students in 1963. Prior to that, it was a diploma-granting institution, then known as the Nigerian College of Arts, Science and Technology; its first set of diploma students finished in 1959, including in its number S. Irein Wangboje.

The most illustrious of early diploma sets was the one of 1961, including Bruce Onobrakpeya, Demas Nwoko, Uche Okeke, and Jimo Akolo. Today Ahmadu Bello University's art faculty is large with fifty-five staff members and is divided into two departments: Fine Arts and Industrial Design. S. A. Adetoro discusses the history and evolution of the art school at Ahmadu Bello University, its achievements and prospects. The catalogue lists all the students who have passed through Zaria's art school, their areas of specialization, and the current faculty list.

The renowned art school in Zaria, Nigeria, turned fifty in 2009. Originally, the National College of Arts, Science and Technology, it soon became the Department of Fine Arts at Ahmadu Bello University. Published on the occasion of the celebratory exhibition, this catalog not only illustrates art works by many of the celebrated graduates, but gives directories of past and present faculty and students. The full curricula is laid out from undergraduate to PhD. The history of the department is recounted in several (overlapping) essays by Ola Oloidi, Daniel Olaniyan Babalola, Jerry Buhari, Muazu Mohammed Sani, and others.

The Zaria Art Society existed for only three years from October 1958 to June 1961, but its impact and legacy resonate into the 21st century. Of its eleven members most went on to very successful and influential careers in Nigeria and abroad. In 1998 on the 40th anniversary of its founding an exhibition and symposium were organized to celebrate the multiple achievements of these Zarian artists. The leader of the Zaria Art Society was clearly Uche Okeke, and he was closely allied with Bruce Onobrakpeya, Demas Nwoko, and Yusuf Grillo. Simon Okeke, who died during the Biafran war, might have been in this first tier had he lived. E. Okechukwu Odita and Oseloka Osadebe decamped to the United States. Ogbonnaya Nwagbara, Felix Ekeada, and William A. Olaosebikan had respectable careers in Nigeria. The one woman, Ikponwose Omagie, seems to have faded away early on.

Nine of the major Zaria artists are profiled here; five are interviewed, so we get their remembrances of Zaria and student days. Essays by several Nigerian art historians and curators provide historical perspectives on these “Zaria rebels” and the nature and extent of their impact on 20th century Nigeria art practice. The book is extensively illustrated (but poor quality reproductions).